The Solemn Sea

Throughout history, smugglers have trafficked humans for slave labor and prostitution, also taking advantage of some refugees' ability to pay exorbitant amounts of money for safe passage. These days, media's primary illegal alien focus is on the United States' southern border along the Rio Grande.

However, Florida has a long history of contending with the problem of illegal aliens, continuing into the present day, with alarming increases mirroring the exponential growth at our southern border, most notably with refugees from Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.

Though not well publicized, since Russia invaded Ukraine, more than four million residents have fled their country, with some resettling in the United States.

Thousands of Russians have also left their homeland to escape economic sanctions and their governments oppressive crackdown on domestic dissent against the war.

Some of these refugees made their way through Mexico to our southern border in hopes of being granted asylum, but others with the financial wherewithal to afford it, traveled to Cuba with the plan to then come furtively to America.